By Howard Brenton Directed by Doug Clarke Season: February 1985 Brenton saw children playing in Eindhoven on a bomb site, a heap of rubble - history. And the idea of a German solider coming out of the ground became meaningful. The text of this play was more of a "collective" than a finished work of the writer's own making, having been work-shopped by London's Traverse Theatre Company. Brenton's initial idea acted as the basis for exploration by the Company on the themes and possibilities suggested. Its structure appears disjointed, having two stories which overlap and undercut each other: the children playing on the grave and the second narrative strand, the story of Violette Szarbo, based on the 1958 film Carve Her Name With Pride. Violette's mission was shown as pointless, doomed to failure before it began, her death simply due to administrative inefficiency. The film portrays her story as light comedy/romance. In reality it was tragedy in the truest sense of the word. Hitler Dances, while poignant in places, tries to convey the fruitlessness of war. Cast: Maggie Hillock Michele Johnson Andrew Riach Angie Simpson Marcel Snyders Max Sullivan Band: Music by Shane Samson Vocals by Glenda Cooke |